League champs: BHS girls tennis clinches DSL title

APPLE VALLEY — For the first time in three seasons, the Desert Sky League girls tennis championship belongs to Burroughs. The Div. 5, No. 6-ranked Burros clinched the title with a 10-8 win at Granite Hills on Thursday.

APPLE VALLEY — For the first time in three seasons, the Desert Sky League girls tennis championship belongs to Burroughs. The Div. 5, No. 6-ranked Burros clinched the title with a 10-8 win at Granite Hills on Thursday.

"I'm proud of everyone for really coming together and stepping it up — it really was not expected," Burros senior Myisha Edwards said. "It has been a big surprise — a lot of our team are freshmen and they have really worked hard and come a long way."

Burroughs (13-0, 10-0 DSL) clinched the outright DSL title with two league games remaining. The Burros won seven of the nine doubles sets to beat the defending champion Cougars for the third time this season.

"The doubles saved the day — we played very well and it was a good team effort," Burros head coach Kenold Prince said.

The No. 1 doubles team of Lara Luu and Camynn McGrew won its sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-0, 6-0. Burroughs' top duo had to rally in its first set.

"I thought we were in serious trouble in the first round," Prince said, "but they kept playing and finally turned it around."

The No. 2 doubles team of Edwards and Hayley Weik won its first two sets 6-0, 6-1 before losing 2-6 in the final round. The No. 3 doubles team of Daytona Burks and Emma Heflin won two of its three sets, with scores of 6-1, 6-7 (5-7) and 6-2.

"Emma and Daytona stole the show," Prince said. They had good ball movement and switching at the net — it was impressive."

On the singles side, No. 1 singles player Celsea McGrew swept her sets 6-4, 6-0, 6-0. The senior still hasn't dropped a set this season.

No. 2 singles player Katie Koch was beaten in each of her sets, and had scores of 2-6, 0-6 and 2-6. The Burros' No. 3 singles spot didn't win a game against Granite Hills — Miriam Kolar lost two sets 0-6, 0-6 and substitute Amanda Cook fell 0-6 in the final round.

Burroughs won the league title on the home court of its toughest league opponent, Granite Hills. The Burros enjoyed celebrating the championship on the Cougars' court.

"It was awesome — we blew them out of the water this time," Celsea McGrew said. "We've struggled against Granite Hills in the past, and it has been great to beat them three times this season."

At the beginning of the season, the DSL championship didn't seem likely for Burroughs' team that had three seniors — Celsea McGrew, Edwards and Luu — to go along with an inexperienced group of players. The Burros have received key contributions from their entire team during their surprising run to a league title.

"I was hoping we would do this, and to do it with freshman makes it even better," Celsea McGrew said. "The whole team really pulled together this season, and they all wanted it just as bad as the seniors did. I never expected that we would be league champs."

Page 2 of 2 - Burroughs returns to action on Tuesday against Silverado at BHS courts. With the league title in hand, the Burros can complete an undefeated regular season with wins over Silverado, Victor Valley and Desert.